Mirrors
by xXxJaceInWonderlandxXx
Summary: She tried to look away, but she couldn't. It was like being trapped in an eternal funhouse, one that distorts your reflection until it look unlike yourself. Only for her, there was no escape. Piper-centric, light Jasper.


**I'm still obsessed with the idea of the seven having physical scars after the Giant War, so here goes my take on Piper. Contains light Jasper.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything except the idea.**

**Song: Mirrors by Justin Timblerlake (yes, I chose this song to be ironic).Enjoy!**

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**Mirrors**

She tried to pretend that she was still in a fun house.

When she was young, there was a fair that came around once a year to a small town near the reserve. She would go with her father, the two of them eating sticky-sweet cotton candy and going on rides until they felt like throwing up. It was one of the moments she liked to look back on after the move to LA, after the movies and the lies and the stealing.

There would always be a fun house at the fair. It was small, enclosed in a yellow and orange striped tent, with winding tunnels filled with grimy mirrors. Piper and her dad would stand in front of each one, changing from short to tall and wide to skinny. Her father loved the one that made him look tiny, but Piper would always go towards the one that would distort her face, twist her cheeks up and make her eyes appear crossed.

Then they would step away, walk back out into the sunlight, and continue on with their fun looking like they always had.

She didn't have that choice anymore.

Piper knew she was pretty. It wasn't something she said aloud, for fear of sounding shallow, but when she looked in the mirror, she was happy with what she saw. She liked her choppy hair, her long nose, and her kaleidoscope eyes. It wasn't traditionally beautiful, but Piper liked it. It suited her, and who she was.

But then the Giant War came.

They had all been wounded, physically or mentally. Percy and Annabeth had their scars from Tartarus. Frank had been knocked unconscious for a week. Jason was having nightmares. Leo couldn't stop shaking. Hazel was dead.

But her scar… it wouldn't fade. It was set in far too deep, and they got back too late for the Apollo campers to fix it.

She still remembered how she got it. It had been near the end on the battle, and she had just stabbed a dracaena when another one appeared out of the corner of her eye. She had moved her head slightly to look at it, and the next thing she knew, there was a blinding pain erupting on the right side of her head as blood began to pool all around her.

The ambrosia had helped, luckily. It stitched the skin back up, but the damage was too deep to fully take away the gash.

Piper reached up and placed a tentative hand on her skin. The Aphrodite cabin was empty, and so she stood by the ridiculously large vanity, staring at her marred face. The scar was jagged and stark white against her colouring, beginning by her right temple and curving downwards, tugging at the edge of her mouth before ending on her chin.

It was hideous.

She knew she should be thankful that she made it out of the giant war with just a scar. And, for an Aphrodite kid, Piper liked to think she wasn't that concerned about her appearance. But this… this… this was a constant reminder of all she lost, and all she used to be. This scar would always be on her face, making people sigh in shame at the thought of such a pretty girl, ruined by the jagged line.

It was vain, and selfish, and ridiculous, but Piper couldn't tear herself away from the mirror, couldn't stop staring at herself in the fun house, wishing that when she finally walked away, the scar wouldn't follow.

-o-o-o-mirrors-o-o-o-

He finally saw her after four days.

It wasn't his fault, though. Most of that time was spent back in New Rome, figuring out Frank's praetorship with Reyna, and when he returned, Leo kept on distracting him- he had a sneaking suspicion that Piper had put him up to it.

The last time Jason had seen her was shortly after they returned, when the Apollo kids had done all they could and her face was bandaged, hiding all of the damage from his prying eyes. Piper had been sleeping, air escaping her mouth in little puffs, and so he had left her to rest.

But now that he was back at Camp Half Blood, there were rumors circling around that worried him greatly. Someone told him Piper had only left the Aphrodite cabin once. Another remarked that she hadn't been at the campfire at all. Lacy had run up to him, eyes red, and told him that Piper wasn't eating much.

So when he burst into her cabin, panting and out of breath from having finally escaped Leo, he wasn't surprised to see Piper facing the mirror. He knew the wound would have scarred, and even though Piper pretended to not care much about her appearance, he knew she would be shocked once she saw the mark. And, evidently, judging by the way she had examined the jagged white line, he was correct.

She jumped, startled by his sudden appearance, and whirled around, fully revealing the gash covering the right side of her face before quickly darting her hands up to cover it. With a faint whimper, she backed away onto her bunk, sending a pang through Jason's heart about how completely, utterly broken she looked.

"You're not supposed to be in here," Piper's voice was muffled, hidden behind her palms. "You'll get in trouble."

Jason perched carefully on the bunk across from her. It's paining him to keep his distance, but he knows it's what's best at the moment. "Right now, I really could care less. People are saying that you haven't left the cabin, Pipes. They're saying that you haven't been socializing, haven't been eating. Your sister came to me in tears."

Piper's head is down, but he could almost hear her rolling her eyes. "Well, they aren't wrong."

Jason bit his lip, a little bit surprised by his girlfriend's pessimistic attitude. "Let me see your face."

Piper jerked back as if scalded. "No! I don't want anyone to see it. I know that's shallow, but I couldn't really care less."

Jason rubbed his eyes, getting frustrated. "Piper, honest to Gods. I won't judge you. Stop being self-deprecating and let me see the scar. I know it's hard, but I'm here, alright? Now let me see it, please."

A pause, before Piper spoke again, this time bitterly. "Jason, just go, please. Honestly, it's none of your business whether or not you see it."

He really didn't want to fight with her, but it looked like that's what it was coming to. "Piper. Let me see."

"Why do you even care?" A muffled sob. "Just go."

That does it. Jason's tired of all of this. "You want to know why I care?" His words are harsh, as he hauls himself to his feet. "I care because you're acting like someone you're not. Just because you got a scar on your face doesn't change who you are. You've never been afraid to show your face, you rarely cry, and mirrors are a personal hatred of yours. Yeah, it sucks that that scar's always going to be there. But do you think that means you should change your entire life? I'm still going to love you like this, Pipes. I don't care if you look hideous to the rest of the world- even though you _won't- _because you will always be beautiful in my eyes, okay? So quit the pity party and show me your face, because Piper, you are godsdamn gorgeous and always will be."

She lifted her head up, revealing the white scar, and honestly, he didn't even notice the tears still pooling in the corner of her eyes because to him, nothing in her face had changed. She looked the same as she always did, and he promptly told her so before kissing her with a bit more passion than what was to be expected from the former praetor of Rome. And so she kissed him back.

For their next date, they went to the fair and spent all of their time making faces in the fun house mirrors.

fin.

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**Meh, I find it a bit short and choppy, but oh well. I still like it enough to post.**

**Reviews are loved and greatly appreciated!**

**-Jace ;)**

**PS: Bit of shameless self-advertising- I've got a new fic going up Friday, so be sure to check that out!**


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